Dwell March/April 2017

Perfection is boring. Temples of expensive belongings, displayed just so, are the stuff of other magazines. Here, we want to show unexpected creativity in difficult circumstances. We want to have a conversation about what “good design” means in a world we all recognize. This is not a primer for buying a look. We need smart people who rise to the challenge of negating the mundane and the absurd. Architects, designers, and makers who question how things should be done, or have always been done. Soetsu Yanagi, the founder of the folk movement in Japan, said that art is more beautiful when it suggests something deeper, something beyond its appearance. In this issue, we feature a 92-year-old Frenchman who lives in a quarry with his collection of curios and vintage cars.…

I really enjoyed Ron Henderson’s essay in the January/February issue on the “best” tree, the honey locust. Having had the good fortune of attending the College of Architecture at Illinois Institute of Technology, I can assure you that it was invigorating to spend countless hours drawing, with a lead pencil, the pure aesthetics of the honey locust. Years later, while I was selling modern buildings in Chicago, buyers were impressed when I pointed out that properties with the dappled light, minimal maintenance, and noble structural aesthetic of the honey locust were worth far more. —Jeff Laird, Estancia, New Mexico Great new start. I normally look at Dwell a little and put it back on the newsstand, but not this time. Much cleaner layout, less clutter, more in-depth reporting, more people…

Anything dead is just plain nasty. That includes leather sofas. I even get sad looking at faux animal heads on the wall. Why would anybody want to own an homage to trophy hunting? Kathleen on Dwell A new life after death . . . why not! @architect_marco on Twitter A clearly fake animal seems like a better option—keener modern design with a sense of irony. Nadine Bouler on Dwell If you killed it or caught it, absolutely! M Van on Dwell For me it depends on the animal’s death. I don’t hunt, so I am not going to hang furry heads on my wall. However, I love nature. I find butterflies and moths’ wings beautiful and I place them on shelves or in glass jars to be seen. KC on…

Nick Ballon Mine Dining page 68 Nick Ballon is an Anglo- Bolivian photographer who is based in the United Kingdom. What he remembers most vividly about the Mas de la Pyramide, the home and table d’hôte of French chef Lolo Mauron, is its otherworldly environment: “It’s set inside a quarry surrounded by olive trees and manmade caves that were excavated to build the ancient Roman city of Glanum.” Ballon shares his impression of the restaurateur: “If you ever get the chance to meet Lolo, he will either ignore you or charm you to death.” Catherine Bolgar Mine Dining page 68 American expat Catherine Bolgar has lived in the south of France for more than a decade. She usually writes about business and economics, but French culture and cuisine are always…

Bretelle chair When it’s fully dressed, Luca Martorano and Georg Muehlmann’s Bretelle chair is wrapped in colorful “suspenders.” It can be customized with 160 shades of ribbon. georgmuehlmann.it modern world product Though a turbulent 2016 concluded with many feeling a great uncertainty, 2017 began with ordinary people expressing resiliency and hope in ways both big and small. We noted the same optimism animating the January furniture fairs imm Cologne and Maison et Objet, where the design industry’s most creative minds convened and overwhelmingly affirmed the power of color to buoy spirits in dark times. The fabrics, finishes, and paints shown in Germany and France this year tended toward madcap shades like canary yellow and electric blue, and designers everywhere eschewed the subtleties of pattern in favor of loud monochromatic bursts.…

At the intersection of politics, economics, ethics, design, and technology, the human body has become a battlefield of varied and often conflicting forces. With universal themes such as Birth, Work, Sex, Security, and Health, a recent exhibition at the Het Nreuwe Instituut titled “The Life Fair: New Body Products” explores how the quest for an optimal body has developed into a highly competitive market. We sat down with the co-curators, Agata Jaworska and Giovanni Innella, to discuss how they view technology’s relationship to how we navigate the modern world. How did the two of you come to work on this project? We have been collaborating for a number of years. What brings us together is our interest in popular culture and politics, and a shared view that exhibitions can act…